entranceway | [Video

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[Fitz had intended to send this as a private message to Dr. Foster, but a sudden onset of dizziness and blurred vision meant a text message was out of the question. Video would have to do. He'd remembered to set the privacy settings, hadn't he? Probably.

He addresses the network with a bleary expression, glassy eyes rolling up into his head until he blinks to train them back into place. His skin is an unhealthy pallor, ghastly white with a rash of dark splotches tainting the deep bags under his eyes.]

Doctor Foster... I, ah... The samples from the tunnels? I've been performing analyses, and I've reason to suspect that they aren't quite safe... They react terribly to human DNA samples. It's... I'm not a strong enough biologist to reach a proper conclusion, but some sort of degeneration appears to be taking place.

I also think it might be in our best interests to quarantine off the remaining sediment. The dust has been... It's...

[He grimaces and clenches his jaw, bowing his head for a long moment. He doesn't finish his thought, jumping over to a different one instead.]

Would advise against further reconnaissance trips to the tunnels. At least until we've had more time to study.

[He clumsily gropes along the keyboard next. One of those button presses probably manages to post it. Probably.]

[Action]

[Those who thought the darkness was limited to the subterranean levels of Wonderland might be dismayed by a certain scientist's decision to bring a cursed object onto a higher level. Fitz, believing fully that "cursed objects" were silly superstitions, saw nothing wrong with the idea of bringing it topside for testing and discovery. That was before the illness struck. Now, there's just pain. Pain and... some kind of faint melody. It's too distant to make out yet, a soft buzzing at the edge of his thoughts.

After leaving his message, he abandons the lab entirely, with the intent to return to his room on the fourth floor and sleep until the illness breaks on its own. He's underestimated the frequent onsets of mystical pain, though. He'll most likely be a huddled lump of a person curled against a hallway wall, shivering despite a critically high fever.

He'll still argue any "taint" or "curse" talk, though. It's probably nothing that antibiotics can't cure.]

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I brought a sample into the mansion for study.

[He had no idea it would send a pack of apparent cultists so far out of shape.]

If there's a disease, then there must be a cure. [--and there's the word again.] Perhaps those "Grey Wardens" might be able to offer more of a constructive explanation.

Did you not think to ask people who know about this before studying it? We could tell you much.

[ leliana huffs quietly. ]

What a lovely world you must be from, where every disease possible has a cure. But the Blight is not a disease. I know of no disease that can taint things that aren't living.

Had there been this much discussion earlier, I might have. There seems to be a lot of lore surrounding the substance.

[They could certainly go through it now, but he's much less inclined to listen at this point. It already feels like his brain is too big for his skull.]

There are several afflictions on my world that can. Necrosis can come from bacteria, or fungal infections. There are any number of causes for something like what you describe.

But in the interest of saving time, is there anything you think I ought to know aside from that I'll be dead soon?

It may not kill you outright, but those cases are rare. If it does not, it will start to change you.

[ she pauses, thinking over her words. ]

You were in the Deep Roads, yes? You must have been, to have brought something tainted into the mansion. Did you run into any darkspawn? Many of them would seem like monsters to you--misshapen and with mismatched armor.

Edited (ty for this!!) 2016-05-11 01:43 (UTC)

Assuming the worst case scenario, say I do manage to pull through. What sort of changes do you mean?

[Huh. Well that's a new one. Maybe their culture has something similar to terragenesis. There's a 50/50 shot at "death or superpowers" in those instances. It would make sense for a culture familiar with it to misunderstand the causes and attribute it to some rubbish curse.]

We had some -- interactions with those types, yes. What about them?

[ leliana sighs and thinks over her words. she learned a lot about the darkspawn when she went into the deep roads and there is a fair amount she could explain. but the grey wardens hold their secrets dear and she doesn't know how much information is too much in this case.

but perhaps it's best to err on the side of asking forgiveness rather than permission. ]

There are physical changes. You will look very sick, and possibly turn misshapen similar to the darkspawn. It will take your mind from you. It may be only a little, or it may be quite a bit depending on your situation.

You are lucky you are not a woman.

[He sits up straighter, giving a bit more attention than he had been. The threat of looking sick didn't mean much; after all, he looked rather ghastly already. But the other loss held a much more ominous threat.]

Take my mind -- as in mental degeneration? Dementia?

[And, a bit belatedly, he remembers to add:]

What kind of symptoms does it present in women?

The symptoms aren't different, but the darkspawn use women to, ah, make more of themselves. They force them to eat tainted meat until they turn into a broodmother.

[ yay magical cannibalism?? ]

I've only seen two cases of people who have survived being blighted myself so I can't say for certain what it will do to your mind. One of the Wardens may know more.

[He doesn't need to ask for elaboration about what a "broodmother" must be. He pictures breeding stables and something that looks like a cross between Aliens and The Matrix.]

But you've seen two cases. What happened to them?

[His voice cracks near the end of his question, though he tries to mask it with coughs. He's not scared or anything.]

One killed themselves rather than live with the taint and the horror of all they had been through. The other was... distressed. Paranoid and frightened. He had exiled himself to the Deep Roads and was living as a scavenger, feeding on the bodies of the darkspawn.

[ neither are very good outcomes. ]

[He swallows at a sudden lump in his throat.]

So. Cannibalism is a potential side effect. That's. disconcerting.

[ she makes an affirmative noise, then hesitates. ]

You... may begin to hear things. I don't know for sure.

[Well now it's just like a campfire horror story brought to life.]

There's something musical. I'd thought it was someone in the next room over. Didn't want to bother them.

It's the call of the Old Gods--dragons slumbering beneath the earth that were once worshiped. The darkspawn are driven to find them, and when they do, they infect it with their taint and start a Blight.

Well, then I suppose there's that to look forward to.

If the music starts telling me to do things, those things are most likely horrible. Understood.

It may be a good idea to have someone watch over you, so long as they know how to avoid getting tainted themselves.

That's... [He pauses, considering the ramblings from others hailing from that world.]

....Something about blood, yes?

Yes. Blood will spread it, as will inanimate objects that have been blighted.

[He takes in a sharp breath when she mentions spreading it.]

You're right. I oughtn't be trusted.

Is there anyone in the mansion you trust to look after you?

There are a few. I'd normally hate to trouble them when I'm certain they're busy, but... It sounds as if it might be relaxing to spread it.

I don't... think that's right.

No. It's not.

[ she sighs and, though he can't see it, pinches the bridge of her nose. ]

I would offer my services, but I am currently in the Deep Roads and can't come back to the surface in a timely manner.

I understand. I certainly don't wish to create a commotion.

I can abstain from indulging it. I-- thank you for the early warnings.

You're welcome. I wish you luck.

Likewise. Safe travels while you're trapped down there.

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